Baseball Headline

Sunday March 7, 2010No. 5 Florida Takes Series At No. 10 Miami, 4-2

The duo of
redshirt sophomore Tommy Toledo (Tampa, Fla.) and junior Kevin
Chapman(Coral Springs, Fla.) limited No. 10 Miami (7-3) to four
hits and junior Bryson Smith (Watkinsville, Ga.) bashed a three-run
homer to lift No. 5 Florida (7-2) to a 4-2 victory in the rubber game of the
teams’ series on Sunday afternoon at Alex Rodriguez Park. The Gators captured
the regular-season series between the Sunshine State rivals for the first time
since 2007 and took a series in Coral Gables for just the fifth time since 1960.

“This was
a tremendous series win on the road for us,” head coach Kevin O’Sullivan
said. “It was great to see two guys who had tough 2009 seasons in Tommy (Toledo) and Kevin (Chapman) come through the way they did. Success is a product of hard
work and we were very happy with their outings. I thought our team showed a lot
of resiliency by coming back from the difficult loss last night. To beat Miami on the road is a heck of an accomplishment.”

Toledo (2-0), who missed last year while
recovering from an injured shoulder, scattered three hits and gave up one
earned run over five innings. In his third start and fourth appearance of the
campaign, the righty totaled four strikeouts. Chapman recorded his second save
with a career-long four-inning relief stint in which he gave up one hit with a
pair of strikeouts. Smith (1-for-4) launched his second three-run homer in as
many days in the fourth inning to move the Gators in front.

Senior Matt
den Dekker (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) raised his hitting streak to 18 games
with a one-out single in the third off junior Eric Erickson (1-1). den Dekker
moved into scoring position with his team-leading fourth stolen base, but
Erickson kept the Gators off the scoreboard by retiring junior Josh Adams (Jacksonville, Fla.) on a grounder and sophomore Preston Tucker (Tampa, Fla.) (2-for-4)on a line drive to center field.

The
Hurricanes grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the inning on an error by Smith
at third base. Sophomore Nathan Melendres was hit by a pitch from Toledoto begin the frame and was sacrificed over by freshman Frankie Ratcliff. A
ground ball by senior Ryan Perry eluded Smith, enabling Melendres to score the
game’s initial run.

Smith
atoned for his fielding miscue with a three-run bomb to left center in the
fourth to give the Gators a 3-1 advantage. Sophomore Daniel Pigott (Ormond
Beach, Fla.) reached on a one-out error by sophomore third baseman Harold
Martinez and freshman Nolan Fontana (Winter Garden, Fla.) (3-for-4, two
runs) punched a single into right field to give Florida runners on the corners.
The base-hit increased the rookie’s hitting streak to seven games and he batted
a sizzling .636 (7-for-11) in the series. Smith stepped to the dish and sent a
1-1 pitch over the wall for his second homer of the weekend and the series,
knocking Erickson out of the game. The left-hander allowed five hits and three
runs (two runs) over 3.1 innings. Senior Jonathan Pigott(Ormond Beach , Fla.) greeted freshman E.J. Encinosa with a double into the left-field
corner and then stole third base. The reliever registered back-to-back
strikeouts of freshman Mike Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.) and den Dekker to
hold the margin at 3-1.

A two-out
single by UM junior Chris Pelaez (2-for-4) in the home part of the inning was
the first hit surrendered by Toledo. After Martinez followed with another
single into right field, Daniel Pigott made an inning-ending diving catch in
right field to rob Melendres of possible extra bases.

Florida expanded its lead to 4-1 in the
sixth on a sacrifice fly by Zunino. Fontana began the inning with a sharp
single into center field and moved around the bases with thefts of both second
and third. Following a walk to Jonathan Pigott, sophomore Daniel Miranda was
called on to replace Encinosa (2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R). Zunino lofted the lefty’s
first pitch deep enough into right field to score Fontana.

The
Hurricanes narrowed the gap to 4-2 in the bottom of the inning on a two-out RBI
single by Pelaez. Perez led off with a double to right field, ending the
afternoon for Toledo. Chapmaninduced a grounder by senior Scott Lawson
that pushed Perez to third and then fanned junior Yasmani Grandal on three
pitches. Moments later, Pelaez singled to right field to reduce UM’s deficit to
two runs. Although an error by second baseman Adams extended the inning,
Chapman worked out of the jam by striking out Melendres.

The
southpaw Chapman retired the first two Hurricanes in the seventh before a
throwing error by Smith on a bunt by DeVoss kept the inning alive. Zunino
gunned down the runner attempting to steal second to preserve the 4-2
advantage.

Florida held a 9-4 edge in hits and was a
season-best 5-for-5 on stolen-base opportunities. The Gators return home to
McKethan Stadium on Tuesday to begin a season-high 10-game homestand against Illinois State (4-5). The opener of the two-game set will begin at 6:30 p.m.

Game
Notes

·Since 1960, the
Gators have won series in Coral Gables in 1966 (2-1), 1984 (2-1), 2002 (2-0),
2006 (3-0) and 2010 (2-1).

·The weekend
series between the Gators and Hurricanes drew 13,310 fans to Alex Rodriguez Park.

·Florida batted .296 (32-for-108) over the
three games and out-scored UM, 17-12.

·The Gator
pitching staff registered an earned run average of 2.77.

·Preston Tucker
increased his hitting streak to eight games with a first-inning single. His
career high of 10 games was set from April 5-19, 2009.

·Austin Maddox
delivered a two-out single in the first to raise his hitting streak to six
games and Nolan Fontana delivered a base-hit in the fourth to boost his skein
to seven games.